Love Hurts
by bloodypirate007
Summary: Marriage law fic and a twist on the Severitus challenge. The Ministry passed a law and Hermione has to get married, but her only suitor is Lucius Malfoy. Will the Order be able to save her or will she have to face a fate worse than death? AU Dramione


"Ahem

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters or background plot. They belong to J. K. Rowling. I just like to play with her world.

--

"Ahem!"

The two boys in front of the fireplace continued to bicker.

"Ahem!" Ginny repeated more loudly.

Not even looking up, the gangly red-head and the emerald-eyed boy chorused,

"Hello, Gin," before rejoining their heated argument.

Ginny was officially frustrated. Stamping her foot and crossing her arms, she bellowed in a voice to rival that of her mother's, "BOYS!"

Ron and Harry, the victims of her wrath, froze their fight. Ron was dangling Harry's glasses from one hand while Harry had seized Ron about the middle. Ginny almost laughed at their comical expressions, a mixture of fear and surprise. She sighed and said, "That's much better."

Barely had the words left her mouth than Ron lost his balance due to Harry's grip and they both fell over on the floor.

Ginny rolled her eyes at the two imbeciles she considered her best friends as they scrambled up off the ground and seated themselves at opposite ends of the fireplace. She could see the two of them shooting half-hearted glares at each other across the room, but decided to ignore it.

"Now that you're both listening," Ginny began, "have either of you seen Hermione today?"

"Well, no," Ron grudgingly began, "but…"

Ginny cut him short saying, "In fact has either of you seen Hermione in the last three days?"

This time Harry answered, "No, but I mean, it's 'Mione. She's probably just decided to start living in the library, since she's always going to look up something "important"," Harry mimed putting quotation marks around the last word.

Ginny sighed and realized she was probably being a little harsh as boys, especially these two, were not particularly well-known for being observant. "She's not in the library. She's locked herself in and hasn't been out of her room for days."

"Look, she's probably just onto something and doesn't even want to be bothered for food right now. Give her some time. She'll probably come out sometime tomorrow morning, looking like hell, and asking Professor McGonagall to call a meeting for the Order because she's suddenly figured out how to read Voldemort's thoughts without performing Legilimency," Ron stated before repairing the chessboard that he and Harry had broken during their fight.

Ginny gently massaged her temples and briefly wondered if ever two more idiotic boys had ever come into existence. Sighing again, she said, "Hermione's been in her room ever since she got that ministry letter, you two. I used some of Fred and George's extendable ears a few minutes ago to find out why she's shut herself up and it seems she's spent the better part of the last three days crying. There's an Order meeting in the kitchen in 20, no, 10 minutes and we've been invited, so I suggest you clean up because something big has happened."

After finishing her pronouncement, Ron's mouth gaped open and Harry looked shocked. The two boys glanced at each other before recovering themselves. Harry's expression had turned to one of pure animosity as he ground out, "It's something to do with Voldemort isn't it? I hate him. I will kill him for what he's done to my life and my friends' lives."

"Harry," Ginny began in a soothing voice, "we don't know what's happened, there's no need to lash irrationally."

Harry got up and began pacing, muttering to himself. Ron and Ginny heard bits of phrases like "my fault" and "should've known."

"There's no way you can know what's going to happen, mate," Ron iterated.

"Well, I should have guessed! Things have been too quiet lately, something was bound to happen and I've gone and relaxed my guard," Harry spat out forcefully.

"Let's not jump to conclusions. We'll find out what's happened soon enough," Ginny said. "_I'm_ going to find out what's happened to Hermione." With that she flipped her long red hair over her shoulder and walked out of the room.

"Come on, mate. Let's go." Ron approached Harry and putting his hand on the shorter boy's shoulder, steered him out of the room.

--

Downstairs in the kitchen, the entire Order was gathered around the long table. Ron, Ginny and Harry found themselves taking seats along the wall. The noise was deafening as everyone waited for Professor McGonagall to call everyone to order. However, silence came suddenly as Professor Lupin entered propelling a red-eyed, trembling waif into the kitchen and directed her to a seat midway down the table between himself and Mrs. Weasley.

"'Mione?" Harry and Ron gasped. At the sound of their voices, the shell of the girl that had been their friend since they were 11, turned hollow eyes upon them before hugging her legs to her chest. Her hair, normally shiny and bushy, hung limp around her heart-shaped face. And the vitality that normally everyone could see rushing through her veins had abandoned her, leaving her an empty body that nothing could penetrate.

Even as everyone stared in shock, a voice laced with sarcasm crossed the room, "Finally, a moment's silence from our resident insufferable know-it-all." Half the room turned to glare at the lone figure in the dark corner beside the fire. However, Professor Snape continued to mock Hermione's still body, "What? No fountains of knowledge spewing from your lips today? Speaking of S.P.E.W.ing, do you still want to free the house-elves? Do you still pity them, when one was directly responsible for the mutt's death?"

Harry stomach clenched at the harsh reality of Snape's words. He had come to terms with his godfather's death; however, it was not for Snape to mock Hermione with such words.

However, Snape continued taunting Hermione even as it became apparent that nothing would bring her to respond. Harry finally snapped, "Stop it! Can't you see she's hurting? Whatever has happened, she's obviously not up to talking, so just Leave Her ALONE!"

Professor Snape stepped out of his corner at Harry's words, directing a glare that would cause Neville to wet his pants. However, a smirk soon crossed his lips as he taunted, "The famous boy-who-lived doesn't know?"

Harry narrowed his eyes at his professor not caring the consequences.

"_This_," Snape said, "is rich. You know, Potter, I always pinned you as someone who used his friends, but I didn't know that you didn't even care about them."

Harry ground out, "Well, since you _care_ so much, Snape, tell me what is wrong with _my _friend."

Snape simply smirked and returned to his corner.

Professor McGonagall picked up the strand of conversation, by bringing the Order meeting to an official start with a tap of her wand. She began, "As I'm sure you've all figured out by now, we have called an impromptu meeting to discuss a rather serious turn of events concerning Miss Granger."

Everyone in the room turned to look at the girl, who still hadn't budged from her position in her seat.

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat before continuing, "Voldemort has apparently more influence than we could have perceived within the Ministry. Three days ago, the Ministry secretly passed a law requiring all muggle-borns to marry within one month from the day the letter was sent to a pure-blood wizard."

"But surely Hermione's not affected. She's not of age," Tonks protested.

Snape again entered the conversation, "Normally, no. However, the little chit just had to take every single class offered during her third year and therefore was presented with a time-turner to aid her managing her schedule. Due to her use of the time turner, she is now approximately a year older than supposed, causing her to indeed be of age."

"Why hasn't anyone heard about the law then? I would have imagined there would have been a giant uproar," Kingsley said.

"Severus, perhaps you would like to discuss the issue?"

Snape sneered but said, "Of course, Minerva. The Ministry is in the Dark Lord's pocket for the most part now. He wanted to make sure the law was passed and upheld without most of the public becoming aware."

"But why would he want the muggle-borns to marry pure-bloods? Isn't that counter productive to his goals?" Lupin questioned.

"Apparently," Snape sneered again, "he feels this is the most expedient way to track down muggle-borns and remove them from wizarding society. By keeping the law secret and forcing muggle-borns to marry purebloods, he can ensure that only Death Eaters petition for the muggle-borns. Once the muggle-borns are married, they will have no rights and the Death Eaters will be able to dispose of them as needed or perhaps hold on to them for…" Snape's lip curled before his next word, "fun."

"No!" Harry shouted. "They can't have Hermione."

"Oh, Potter. But they can and have," Snape said coldly. "Malfoy petitioned for Hermione's hand three days ago as soon as the law came out and he will ensure she gets no other requests."

"But surely someone here…" Harry trailed off, scanning the room for potential candidates. Not finding anyone, he looked back up with defeat clouding his green eyes.

"Yes, Potter, my point exactly."

--

Please review. This is my first fic, so any feedback would be great!


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